


Why I Stay

by lunarosewood23



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of his shitty upbringing, Some making out and naked cuddling but nothing explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:33:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarosewood23/pseuds/lunarosewood23
Summary: From the Everyone Lives AU (and maybe shared verse), a little hurt/comfort is brewing when Haurchefant questions why in the seven hells Raven would want to marry him of all people, when she could have literally anyone in the land.(A hint: She loves him above all else.)
Relationships: Haurchefant Greystone/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 5





	Why I Stay

_What are you worth?_

_You are a burden to her._

_She would be better off without you._

_You have nothing to offer her._

_A worthless bastard._

Haurchefant gasped as he woke up from another nightmare, his heart slamming in his chest.

He felt so cold, and not just because he was alone in bed missing the woman he loved.

The voices in his dreams, they were all things spoken to him or about him and his mind suddenly made him hear Raven’s voice, saying such cruel words and he felt his heart sink.

He felt a hand cover his mouth as he felt tears stinging in his eyes. 

_Why do you stay?_

His arms wrapped around himself as he struggled to hold himself together, gods he wants to be held but the one person he turns to is away and he can’t turn to anyone else.

_Oh to hells with this._

He taps his linkpearl. “Raven? My love I know ‘tis late, but…”

_“Shh my love, I’m here. What’s wrong?”_ Raven asks, he should’ve known she would hear his distress.

“I…” _Why do you love me? Why do you want to marry me? Why do you stay with me? I offer you nothing yet why do you choose me?_ “Forgive me…I woke from a nightmare and I wished to hear your voice. I do not even recall what I dreamed of.”

He could hear Raven smile. _“That’s alright my heart. But don’t worry, I will be home on the morrow, and then I will hold you as long as you’ll allow.”_

_Please for the love of the Fury never let me go…_ “I would like that amethyst. I miss you terribly.” _I am a selfish man, the right thing would be to let you choose someone better._

_“Haurchefant?”_

“Yes my heart?”

_“What are you truly feeling right now?”_ She questioned softly, and he could almost feel her hands brushing his bangs from his eyes.

He sighed, even over linkpearl she could hear him. Hear his distress, his sadness, all of it. “I do not know…but you do not have to rush home for me, I shall be alright for the night.”

Raven gave a soft chuckle in reply. _“Yes I do. I’m outside the manor, I’ll be there soon. I love you so much Haurchefant.”_

And with that the call ended as the door opened, and Raven walked through the doors to find her fiance wrapped in his own arms and tears in his loving eyes and trailing down his cheeks without his notice.

Almost instantly he is wrapped up in the safety of her arms and he felt his heart squeeze in yearning. He loves her so much, but to keep her is to be selfish.

Was he worth that?

“Oh Haurchefant, my angel…”

Was he speaking aloud?

“My love…I…”

“Shh…it’s alright, just let it out. I’m here.”

“Why do you stay?” He asked softly, he sounded so meek and small.

Raven was confused, what was he talking about?

“Why me? Why do you stay with me, what do I offer that you can not gain with another? Why do you…”

_Why do you love a worthless bastard like me?_

He knew he was babbling, he loved her so deeply but he couldn’t bear the idea that he was chaining her to him when she was who she was, a Warrior of Light, primal slayer, Ishgard’s champion, hero of Eorzea.

How could he, a bastard and all the stigma that comes with the circumstances of his creation, come even close to that?

There was silence for maybe half a heartbeat before he felt fingers under his chin tilting his head up and lips being gently pressed to his as a hand cupped his face and brushed away his tears. “Haurchefant Greystone de Fortemps, my angel, my hope, my peace, my strength, my dearest heart and love of my life.” She soothed as she presses loving kisses to his face with every declaration.

The way she said his name with such reverence, such love and devotion made his heart flutter, _Fury’s grace_ she was his world.

“Do you truly not know what you give me that none could ever even hope to offer?”

His eyes were downcast, he knew, he just didn’t believe he was worth that. He didn’t believe he was worth even an onze of her love.

“You offer me hope, when all the world is dark and terrifying, you are the one who gives me hope that the light will come again. I am aware you have told your father that I was hope incarnate, but even hope incarnate needs hope of her own to lean on.”

“You offer me strength, when I am away and struggling, 'tis your voice that pushes me to keep going so I can return to you. While I can never promise I will return unharmed, I will always return.”

“You offer me peace, right here in the safety of your arms is the one place I would rather be than anywhere in the land, and the only way I have even been able to sleep when I am away is imagining you behind me and holding me as tightly as possible and never letting go.”

Tears gather in his eyes, such honeyed words he wasn’t sure he deserved as she continued. “You are my home and my world, you are what I fight so hard to protect, and if I lost you I don’t know what I would even do.”

She continued to speak so lovingly in his ear and he shook his head. “I am still stuck here, bound by duty, I can not come to you and protect you. Nor can I offer you nearly as much influence or power due to my own creation. I am still a bastard, much as my father has tried to see me treated the same as my brothers.”

Raven cupped his face in her hands and held them there as she gently bumped his forehead with hers. “Do you really think I care about that? Have you forgotten that I am bastard-born as well? 'Tis clear that there is significant difference between how it’s handled between the nobility and the common, but you know my mother raised me to not give a damn about it. How you are born is irrelevant, is it what you do in this world that makes or breaks you. You, Haurchefant, have made a name and life in this warscape and you have risen above the cruel things everyone has said.”

“As for being stationary, 'tis all the more easier to write back home, and as the saying goes, "home is where the heart is.” You are my home.“

Haurchefant gave a soft smile as he curled closer to her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her shoulder, the cold that has settled in had been long replaced by her warmth. "Raven…”

“Yes my heart?”

“Would you kiss me?”

Raven smiled. “Of course.”

She tilted his chin up and pressed his lips to hers, she tasted the saltiness of his tears but she merely pulled him closer as a hand went into his soft pale blue hair as her other hand began to rub circles into the smooth skin of his back.

He sighed in the kiss as he leaned back against the bed and pulled her on top of him, her body so warm and grounding atop his own as a slight moan escaped his lips.

His heart squeezed in delight as he felt her hand slide down his chest and hesitantly dip into the waistband of his sleep trousers, another taking his hand and interlocking their fingers, her aether unintentionally linking with his own and he cried out, his hips unintentionally bucking up into her own.

She giggled. “Someone is eager.”

He flushed. “Not quite, I…”

“I’m teasing my heart. No further unless you say it’s okay.” She assures as she pulls her hand away to rest on his hip above his pants, kissing him slowly as he slid his hands under her shirt, his whole body shivering from the slight chill.

“Might I rid you of these garments so we can properly cuddle? Please?”

Her shirt was already off by the time he uttered the words, her boots and pants soon following before she crawled into bed and pulled the covers over them both. He lifted his hips to slide his own sleep trousers off as he pressed closer to her and entangled their legs together, their hearts beating in sync in their ears as he buried his face in her chest.

“I love you so much Raven. I-”

“I love you more Haurchefant. More than you could ever imagine.” She says simply with a kiss to his forehead, a hand threading through his hair soothingly. “Whatever you think you need to apologize for, it’s alright. No matter where my travels take me, I am yours and yours alone and you are who I want to come home to.”

His eyes fell shut as he listens to her, he believes her words, has never doubted her when she said how much she loves him. He just doubts his worthiness for them.

Raven smiled as she leaned in and kissed him. “You are the only one worthy of my heart and my hand.”

His heart swelled as he tightened his arms around her and pressed his hands to her scarred back as she pressed her forehead to his, a hand cupping his cheek. He gazed into her luminous purple eyes and felt a real smile upon his lips when he saw the soft look in her eyes that only he ever saw when they were like this.

“Thank you.”

Raven just further caressed his face and ran his fingers through his hair. “Don’t even worry. _Je t'aime mon ange._ ”

_“Je t'aime améthyste.”_

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Both of them are saying “I love you.” + their respective nicknames in French (Raven calls him 'angel', Haurchefant calls her 'amethyst'), bc I am using French for High Ishgardian. 
> 
> I hope this was a good read!! Haurchefant deserves all the hugs and cuddles and reminders that he is very much loved.


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